The African Identity: Am I African enough?

When I settled on doing this article, I did not anticipate the
effort that would be required in developing the necessary
arguments and content. I had underestimated the amount of time
and research I would need to be able to justify the absence or
presence of an African Identity. Regardless, I had to do it; I
considered it extremely necessary.

Sometimes in February, a prominent Kenyan writer and African icon
Binyavanga Wainaina came out; the reactions in the Kenyan media
as well as barbershop conversations and roadside gatherings were
full of hatred leaning to extremism. Among the arguments against
his public disclosure was that homosexuality is un-African?

I have been largely puzzled by this un-African tag. It somehow
points to the existence of a creation that defines what it means
to be or not to be African. It also legitimizes behavior using a
set of rules and guidelines based on nothing more than an
“African” code of conduct. I am also similarly puzzled when I
hear western-raised individuals declare themselves true Africans;
or when young people are criticized of having lost touch with
their African roots.

Is anyone able to mentally grasp the African identity? Does being
African mean anything beyond the borders that shape our
continent? Should African be defined in comparison with others,
or should it be based on inherent qualities that make up our
“African-ness”?

I consulted a few friends and a couple of secondary sources of
information, I have to say to the best of my knowledge, I was not
able to find one thing that was cross cutting. Some were very
protective of the black skin; some argued that it was in our
culture, while others confined the African identity to be purely
determined by our borders, someone else said our African identity
can only be seen through the eyes of a third party. But the one
thing that came very close to convincing me of its existence was;
“we have retained our cultural perspective more than other
people, this has shown its head in almost all our industries and
aspects of life…we are a very united group (kinship ties) we feel
obligated to help out and to identify with our kinship no matter
how educated we might be”.

Regardless, in these contemporary times my idea of Africa is
purely a creation of the media, mostly western. The image of
African has been tainted by poverty and misery; malnourished dark
skinned children hanging on to their lives (dry lips, gouging
eyes, flies jumping around their dry mucus-covered noses
covered); or better yet, dark-skinned, mean looking men, carrying
high caliber rifles looking like they have never smiled in their
entire lives. They all portray an image of something I do not
want to be associated with; no one does.

In the end, I guess we are Africans purely because we are, and
there is nothing more to it than the continent you were born on.
Everything else to me is purely constructed from a rather
condescending characterization.